The present invention relates to an improved disk storage apparatus for CDs (Compact Disks) or DVDs (Digital Versatile Disks) and a disk changer apparatus using such a disk storage apparatus.
Disk changer apparatus for CDs or DVDs include a disk storage apparatus in the form of a disk rack with a plurality of storage slots or cells for storing a plurality of disks in one or more stacked arrays, and any designated one of the stored disks is taken out from the disk rack for reproduction of recorded information on the disk or other purpose. FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an example of a conventional disk rack 1 of a type where a plurality of disks D are stored in the storage cells in a stacked array.
As in many other disk racks for disk changer apparatus, the storage cells in the disk rack 1 shown in FIG. 1 are provided at short intervals in order to store as many disks D as possible, and thus the disks D stored in the respective storage cells are spaced from each other by a considerably small distance d. Even with such a small distance d between the disks D, no significant problem would arise when a designated disk D is taken out from the disk rack 1 via an automatic hand member of the disk changer apparatus. However, when a designated disk D is taken out from the disk rack 1 manually by a user, the small distance d between the stored disks D would make it difficult for the user to pick up the designated disk D with fingers. If the disk rack 1 is constructed to provide a greater distance d between the stored disks D with a view to allowing the user to easily pick up the designated disk D with fingers, then the number of the disks D storable in the disk rack 1, i.e. storage capacity of the disk rack 1, would have to be reduced.
To avoid the aforesaid problems, an improved disk rack 1 has been proposed which has a disk pusher lever 2 as illustrated in FIG. 2. In this case, a separate disk pusher lever 2 is provided for each of the storage cells in the disk rack 1. By the user only operating the disk pusher lever 2 associated with a desired disk D, the desired disk D can be mechanically pushed forward (i.e., from a position denoted by solid line to a position denoted by dot-and-dash line), so that the user can easily pick up and draw the disk D out of the storage cell.
However, the provision of the movable disk pusher lever 2 for each of the storage cells as mentioned above significantly increases the number of component parts, which would thus lead to a complicated structure of the disk rack.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved disk storage apparatus which allows a user to easily take out a desired disk therefrom only with a simplified structure and without having to reduce the number of disks storable therein, and a disk changer apparatus using such an improved disk storage apparatus.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an improved disk storage apparatus which comprises a disk holding mechanism, preferably in the form of a disk rack, including a plurality of storage cells arranged to store a plurality of disks in a stacked array, the disk holding mechanism being movable between a disk loading/unloading position to allow a user to load or unload a desired disk to or from one of the storage cells and a disk storing position, When the disk holding mechanism is in the disk storing position, the disk holding mechanism holds the disks in substantial alignment as viewed in a direction of the stacked array, while when the disk holding mechanism is in the disk loading/unloading position, the disk holding mechanism holds the disks in a staggered configuration as viewed in the direction of the stacked array.
Each of the storage cells has a disk-supporting surface of either of first and second shapes, and the storage cell having the disk-supporting surface of the first shape and the storage cell having the disk-supporting surface of the second shape alternate in the direction of the stacked array in such a manner that the disks can be held in the staggered configuration by the respective disk-supporting surfaces of the storage cells.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk changer apparatus which comprises: the above-mentioned disk storage; a hand member arranged to take out a designated one of the disks from the disk storage apparatus and place the taken-out designated disk at a predetermined position; and an optical pickup unit arranged to perform either or both of reproduction and recording processes on the designated disk having been placed at the predetermined position by the hand member.